Shadows (Dark! Jack Frost x Reader)
by AgentV0212
Summary: Even when the sun comes out, my shadows won't go away. They'll stay with you forever, hunting you down and watching your every move. Just like me.
1. Once Upon A Time

They met on a cold winter morning.

[f/n] was walking along, going about her normal business, when a snowball slammed into her back and almost made her fall. She regained her balance and turned to yell at whoever threw the thing, only to come face-to-face with a blue-eyed boy holding a strange looking stick. When she asked who he was, confused because she never saw him around, he claimed he was Jack Frost.

"Really?" She raised her eyebrow, not believing him. She knew about Jack Frost, of course, because she could see him, therefore meaning she believed in him. He didn't really look like the all-powerful spirit she read about in books. He just looked like... Well, a boy. A slim, bare-footed, white-haired boy...

"Yeah," he nodded vigorously, his hope soaring. He had another believer, and she was a teenager! Someone his age he could actually talk to, if he managed to win her belief over and convince her that he was _the_ Jack Frost. "Want me to prove it?"

She nodded uncertainly, then watched in awe as he did just that.

They became the best of friends after only a few days, trusting each other with their lives. Something about the other was just so... _right_, if that was the correct feeling. Something deep inside them told them that the other was trustworthy and a good person. They knew they could trust the other to keep their secrets and keep their promises.

Almost every single day of winter, they were outside, laughing and throwing snowballs at each other. Either that, or they were building snowmen or just admiring the landscape and enjoying each others' comfort.

They could tell each other anything.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked softly as he patted [f/n]'s back. She buried her head into his chest and shook her head.

"I don't wanna say," she muttered, her voice muffled by the fabric of his hoodie. He peeled her off him and looked into her eyes, his demeanor so different from the one he had during their time having snowball fights.

"You can tell me anything, [f/n]," he murmured, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. She shivered slightly at his touch. "I'll understand."

So she told him, spilling her tears and thoughts and feelings out to him. Her words slipped from between her lips like a flow of water sliding through a large crack in a dam. He listened patiently, never interrupting, rubbing small circles on her shoulder comfortingly. Having him with her calmed her down so much, gave her some of herself back.

When she finished, he pulled her back into his cold arms. She didn't mind his temperature at all. It was something she had grown to love.

"It's okay," he rested his chin against the top of her head as her sniffles drew to a stop. "I'll always be here for you."

"Really?" she mumbled into his frost-covered sweatshirt. She pulled back so she could see his beautiful eyes.

"Really." He smiled, then leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead. That sealed the deal for her.

They fell in love. Their first kiss was shared on a night when the moon was full and shining down on them, casting a soft glow on their faces.

"[f/n]?" Jack said in a soft, almost inaudible voice.

"Yeah?" she stopped walking and turned to look on him. They had been on their way to the park to just hang out for a while.

He hesitated, then took a deep breath. "You're honestly the best person I've met in my entire life. You're beautiful, smart, and understanding. You stayed with me through my hard times and kept believing even though your friends think you're silly. When you're sad, I just _have_ to make you happy again. I hate seeing you in pain, hurt, or crying. It makes me feel bad, too. Every time I'm with you, I want to stay by your side forever and see your gorgeous smile and hear your laugh every day. I want to wake up each morning and know I have you with me. I want to be closer to you than ever." He looked up at [f/n] with a hopeful look in his eyes, holding his pale hand out to her. "Will you let me?"

Tears had formed in her eyes as she listened to his words. "Of course, Jack," she didn't take his hand; she threw her arms around him and cried tears of joy into his hoodie. A soft smile hovered over his lips as he held her close to himself.

When she grew quiet, he pulled back so he could look into her glimmering eyes. After taking in every single detail of her beautiful face, he leaned in and felt the brush of his lips against hers.

They were the happiest as could be, but only for a little while before something terrible happened. An event both of them never thought would have occurred.

The winter spirit began growing distant. He didn't stop by her room as much as before, he didn't talk that much, and his playfulness was starting to fade.

[f/n] could never figure out just what was wrong. She just thought it was a phase he was going through. He wouldn't tell her when she asked, and that made her suspicious. She respected his privacy, though, and didn't pester him further.

He grew more unfocused and more distant with each passing day. [f/n] started noticing something unusually off about him, something she didn't like at all. There was something almost... _dark_ about him. Sometimes, she thought she saw his cerulean eyes flash yellow, saw his hair darken to an almost black color. She always passed it off as her imagination, but she knew this was no ordinary phase.

One day, it happened. All at once, their perfect little world was shattered.

"Jack?" the girl whispered, her voice quivering. Something was wrong with him, she could feel it. This was the first time she had been so scared of him, and she didn't like it. Not one bit. The boy in front of her was so different from the boy she was used to seeing everyday. This time, she knew she wasn't hallucinating. His appearance was real, and it was frightening.

"Shh," the winter spirit laid a cold finger across her lips lightly, his yellow eyes glowing under his black hood. He couldn't let her see him in his full dark glory, not yet. He had to make sure this worked, and it wouldn't if she ran away screaming. Doing this was already difficult as it was, so he didn't want to use force. "Don't be scared, [f/n]. I'm Jack, remember?" He was telling a lie, though. He wasn't Jack. He was someone else, someone who scared even himself.

She relaxed slightly at his words, though she was still suspicious. Her instincts told her trouble was brewing, but she couldn't find the strength to push him away or the words to tell him to leave. She knew something had changed; his black hoodie and dark hair revealed that. But just what had happened? Was he still Jack? He still sounded and looked pretty much like the frost boy she loved with all her heart, but what was under all that? The Guardian of Fun, or someone – _something_ – else?

"Do you trust me?" he murmured in that mesmerizing voice of his, encircling her waist with his arms. She felt the familiar cold of his body, though something was off. Something more... threatening.

She swallowed, but she could never say no to him. "Y-Yeah," she whispered in a barely audible voice. She didn't catch the victorious smirk he wore as he spoke.

"Alright then, snowflake," he spun around, heard her tiny squeak as she was picked up and placed on his back with a _thump_, and took off into the night.

[f/n] clung to Jack's dark hoodie tightly as they shot through the chilly air. She buried her face into his back, but she couldn't catch the strong whiff of fresh pine and mints that she usually could. There was still a faint trace of it, though most of his normal smell had been masked by something else... What was it?

Jack landed on the ground with hardly a bump, then eased [f/n] off his back. She set her feet on the ground hesitantly, swaying slightly before regaining her balance. "Wh-Where are we?" Her voice was soft as she looked around. She saw a dark expanse of what looked like black sand, and once again there was that tugging feeling that something was terribly wrong. The pieces were starting to come together, but she didn't want to believe it. No, that would never happen. He would never do that... Would he?

Before the frost boy could reply, another voice interrupted. "Nice of you to join our party, [f/n]." A tall figure stepped out from the shadows, his yellow orbs shining through the darkness. She instantly knew who it was, and her heart beat faster in her chest.

"O-Our?" She glanced at Jack, whose hood was finally down now, allowing her to see his complete transformation. She inhaled sharply at the color of his pupils; they were the same sharp yellow as the boogeyman's, except more clear, like... he was just turned. They shocked her so much she was stunned into a silence. When she recovered from her surprise, she whispered, "Jack...?"

He swung his staff over his shoulder and gave her a crooked grin. "Hey, [f/n]."

"Wh-What happened to you?" she breathed, walking forward and touching his cheek lightly. She was more mesmerized than frightened of him at the moment, though her fear of his transformation was starting to eat her confidence away.

He flinched slightly at her touch. He had to stay strong; he couldn't be weakened by the girl he loved. "Love is a huge weakness," Pitch told him the day he succumbed to the darkness inside him. "We must get rid of yours."

"I'm with Pitch now," he said flatly.

She wasn't too taken aback. She suspected that had happened right when he showed up with black sand flowing from him, his clothes, hair, and mere appearance darkened, but she never wanted to believe it. She wanted him to be good, be the Guardian of Fun she knew and loved. She wanted him to be the boy who flew through the air, his tinkling laughter ringing through the air and his radiant smile shining on his face.

"But what about the Guardians?" she pressed. Maybe she could convince him to change his mind, though the chances of that happening were slim...

"The Guardians don't need me," he replied, pulling away from her. She watched him back away from her, his eyes flashing with despair and... desperation? Desperation for her to understand and... just let him go? "I left them." She was making this so, so hard for him, but he had to do it.

"You're the Guardian of Fun!" [f/n] exclaimed, desperately trying to reason with him. She wanted so badly for him to be the lighthearted, mischievous winter spirit she fell in love with. "Children need you!"

Jack scowled at her, and this wasn't the playful scowl he usually gave her during their snowball fights. It was a scowl that sent chills through her body. "No, they don't." His voice wavered, but he quickly regained his composure. The last thing he wanted was to look weak and give her some confidence that she could convince him to stop.

Pitch Black watched in amusement as the two argued. Yes, he had trained the little frost boy well. The show they put on would entertain him greatly. "Enough chit chat," he flicked his wrist, and [f/n] slumped with defeat. What was she going to do now? She couldn't let the nightmare king just win like that.

"What about me, Jack?" she whispered, her gaze locking with his. She didn't like the way his yellow eyes reflected the light, the way his lips straightened into a thin and emotionless line. She missed his beautiful cerulean orbs, missed his magnificent smile and his soft, white hair. She missed _him_. "What am I going to do without you?"

She knew she had hit a weak spot. Jack flinched as if she had struck out at him physically, and Pitch's lip curled in a snarl. That was the only problem about the boy. He was weak because of his strong affection for the girl, and the dark man would make sure that problem was taken care of.

"He will fare well enough without you," Pitch snapped, and [f/n] cringed. The boogeyman quickly regained his cool and let a smile cross his face. "Now, Jack, finished the test, will you?"

Jack's fingers tightened around his staff as he stepped closer to the girl. She looked at him nervously, wondering just what this "test" was. She still believed that her Jack was somewhere in that dark boy, so she wasn't _that_ scared yet. What she didn't know was that that Jack Frost was long gone.

The winter boy knew there was no way out of this. If he wanted to gain Pitch's trust, he would have to do this. He would have to get rid of any weakness he had, and the only major one right now was [f/n]. He was weak because of her, his only fear was losing her, and the only way to destroy a fear was to face, live through it. To make sure he would be the strongest he could, Pitch commanded him be the one who did it.

[f/n] started realizing what was happening. She had always been a smart girl, but she didn't want to believe what she had found out what was happening. She wanted to believe that Jack was still the boy she had fallen in love with, had countless snowball fights with, cuddled with on cold winter nights. She felt absolutely hopeless now. She had tried talking him out of it, and that hadn't worked.

They stared at each other for what seemed like hours.

She knew that the Guardian of Fun was still in there somewhere. He was just locked away and pushed to a tiny corner where he couldn't voice or act out his own thoughts and feelings. But [f/n] couldn't find anyway she could bring him back out with Pitch standing by and watching like a hawk.

"A-Alright," Jack took a shuddering breath and raised his staff. Pitch frowned at the stutter, but his frown immediately turned into a smile when frost began creeping along the floor and towards the girl.

[f/n] scrambled back as her frightened eyes locked with Jack's regretful ones. "Jack..." Her back hit the cold stone wall, and her heart skipped a beat. "Please stop. Please."

He looked away and squeezed his eyes shut, willing for it all to be over. The frost grew thicker, moved a bit faster, ran over her shoes and up her legs. She gasped at the sharp cold of the ice, desperately trying to escape the grasp of it. Her attempts at breaking free were fruitless, however; the frost seemed to freeze her to the ground and prevent her from moving at all. She could only watch helplessly as the icy material crept higher, higher, and higher. The ice was deathly cold, much colder than anything she could withstand. If the sheet of frost fully engulfed her... She shivered at the thought.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she suddenly cried out just as the sea of deadly ice reached her thighs. She didn't understand; Jack loved her, didn't he? He couldn't just do this to her without reason!

The winter spirit kept his gaze averted as he listened the crackling sounds of the ice slowly moving along her body. If he looked at her, the pain of killing her would just increase. Silent tears were escaping his eyes, and he couldn't stop them. His dark side yelled and screamed that he was a coward for crying. His Guardian side yelled and screamed that he was a cold-hearted murderer for doing such a thing. His dark side won and pushed the other away.

Pitch sneered at the girl when she tried escaping. He knew how powerful Jack Frost really was, and a mere mortal couldn't break free no matter what she did. He had to admit he was very impressed so far; he expected Jack to have backed down from his task and tried to save [f/n] instead, but he hadn't. He remained as still as a rock, staring down at the ground.

The ice had reached her chest now. It moved slowly, but steadily, and she knew she didn't have much time left. She was so cold that she could barely talk, but she managed to force out, "J-Jack, p-please... s-stop..."

His chest rose up and down with shaky breaths, his knuckles turning paler than usual as he clenched his fist beside him. He had to get this over with before he snapped.

The frost began moving faster. [f/n] didn't have the strength to protest or care anymore. Her lips moved without emitting any sounds, her head resting back against the dark wall and her eyelids drooping. She was just so, so cold. So cold that she started feeling hot. Her thoughts were muddled and her reactions late from the terrible state her body was in. She began drifting from reality, her breathing slowly drawing to a stop when the ice passed her throat. By the time the frost reached the concrete above her head, she was completely gone. Wiped from the world by the one she loved. She was covered head to toe with a sheen of thick but transparent frost that glittered almost innocently, like it _accidentally_ killed a girl.

_What have I done?_ the frost boy thought to himself when he finally looked up at [f/n]. She could've been sleeping, her eyes closed and her face calm. But after a close look, he saw deep sorrow shown in her slightly furrowed eyebrows. He thought she looked a little regretful, too, as if she thought she could've done something to stop him. She couldn't have, though. He was already consumed by the shadows of Pitch Black.

"You have done well, Jack," a low chuckle reached his ears, and he lowered his gaze. He had no tears left to cry, no more words to say, no more feelings to feel. He had given himself up completely to darkness by vanquishing the last thing he cared about.

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Jack Frost who fell in love with a girl named [f/n]. They could've lived happily ever after, but that's only in the fairy tales. This is reality, and in reality, nothing ever goes the way you want it to.

This story didn't end the way either Jack or [f/n] wanted it to end.


	2. Is this love?

At first, it was just nightmares. Nothing more than that. She thought they were just normal, everyday nightmares at first. Nightmares that everyone had once in a while because of something insignificant that had happened or because of some silly phobia. She passed them off, because she'd had them before. Lots and lots of times. This was completely normal; everything was completely fine.

She continued to believe that lie until the nightmares started coming every single night, growing more vivid, more frightening every single time. If they were typical bad dreams, she would have been able to convince herself that they were just her imagination. These ones, however, made it seem like her worst fears were coming to reality and left her sobbing and drenched with sweat when she woke. And when she did wake, which was rare, since it always seemed as if the nightmares were trying their best to keep her in their torturous realm, she was in terrible shape. She whipped around, her entire body shaking and her eyes wide and showing the whites. She always expected to see those horrible, horrible visions right in front of her, but they never were. Even so, they scared her so, so much.

This wasn't normal, not the least bit. Something was happening, and she knew she wasn't going to like it. She constantly bit down on her lower lip, her eyes darting about. Every single muscle in her body was always tensed up, ready to take her away from danger if it ever appeared. Every time she thought about all these unusual dreams and feelings she was experiencing, her palms grew sweaty and her breathing quickened. Her heart beat rapidly, her head grew light and she felt her world lurch forward. Her body knew trouble was coming, and was reacting to it. She felt that she couldn't bear the tension any longer.

She couldn't fall asleep at night. She would lay in her bed, glaring up at the ceiling, forcing herself to keep her eyes open. She tried all sorts of things; thinking about what she liked and didn't like, her family, her friends, all the good times she'd had. Eventually, though, she would just let her eyes droop and let herself succumb to the darkness. She would then undergo the horrors of her worst fears yet again. She was trapped in her own mind.

Occasionally, she would sit by herself, in her room, staring at the clock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. The small sound of the ticking of the second hand seemed to be magnified by thousands, making her ears ring and her palms clammy again. Each second that passed by added on to the steadily growing tension. She strived to make herself stand up and do something to take her mind off of all this anxiety, but she felt as if she were glued to the spot. She couldn't move. She just sat there, staring at the clock. Waiting for her doom.

She could never think straight, and her homework would always be left undone or messy. She wouldn't study for tests and whereas she would have freaked if she received a bad grade, during these particular moments, she acted as if she couldn't care less. Her teachers were shocked with her sudden change in demeanor; she was always such a good student. Her parents grew concerned and asked her about it, as did her dear friends, but she always made up excuses to cover up her abnormal behavior.

She wasn't overreacting. Not at all. If she told someone about it, they would surely think she was a complete drama queen and had lost her mind. They would avoid her because they would think she was crazy.

But she couldn't not act like this. Whatever was happening to her wasn't the least bit ordinary, and she was scared by that. She was scared because she had always been a normal girl, living a normal life, and she didn't think she did anything to deserve this. She didn't deserve to live through this tension and discomfort and constant worrying, didn't deserve to live through all these dreadful nights and restless days.

She kept it to herself. She didn't tell anyone about her terrifying dreams, not even her closest friends and family. Even if there was an ominous ring to the situation, there was also something strangely alluring to it. She wanted to find out what it was without accidentally getting rid of it.

So she waited. She struggled through her nightmares, but she put up with it. If she wanted to find out what exactly this... force was, she would have to keep waiting for it to show itself. She knew that eventually, it would. She just didn't know when, and that feeling of apprehension made her even more distressed. Pretty soon, she was beyond overwhelmed and she didn't know what to do.

After just a few days of tension building up on her, she actually felt like she was going insane. She thought her mind was taking a sudden turn towards a darker path, one that led to a certain disaster. Her head was getting messed up, and she didn't know the cause. She attempted countless times to stop whatever was causing this, but always ended up with unsatisfied results. She was getting no closer to the answer, maybe even farther if she had moved at all.

She paced the floor of her room, her fingers pressing into her temples as her lips twisted into a scowl. What could it be? she thought desperately to herself, and her teeth dug so deep into her lip that she drew blood. She gave little to no thought when the harsh, metallic taste invaded her mouth, her worn out mind still focused on trying to figure out just what was causing these nightmares.

Suddenly, her palm smacked into the top of her head. It was as if she was trying to force the nightmares out of her mind just like they had forced their way inside of it. Even though she knew her efforts were completely wasted, her hand continued to thud against her head multiple times before falling back to her side. She eventually came to a stop at her bed and fell against it, completely exhausted.

She wondered just what was happening to her. It all seemed like a dream itself, something totally detached from reality. But the thing was, everything was real and she was living in it right that second. She knew it herself, but she just didn't want to believe it because it was a horrible thought.

She had tried everything. She tried going to sleep early, to see if it was just stress taking its toll on her and making her hallucinate. She tried searching online to see if it was some sort of disease, but found nothing that matched her symptoms, if you could even call them that. She tried to recall any past incidents that could have affected her in any way, but found none. She was absolutely dumbfounded, for the cause of her nightmares wasn't stress or sickness or painful memories.

It was Jack Frost.

He had watched her closely each and every day for months. He had observed her carefully and memorized her every move, as a predator would its prey. He studied her when she was in school, when she was taking a walk through the streets, when she was hanging out with friends or at the movies. He scrutinized what she wore, what she ate, what she talked about and her hobbies. He knew almost everything about her. He was obsessed with her, infatuated with everything about her.

But the thing was, he wasn't the Guardian of Fun anymore. He wasn't the immortal boy who created snow days for children and spread joy throughout winter. No, he didn't have his snowy white hair and cerulean eyes anymore. He was a completely different being, one that was all dark and fear.

His eyes had transformed into glittering, golden pieces of flint. They were still beautiful, of course, but so, so different. They were the kind of beautiful that froze you on the inside, told you to run and run and never look back, but also purred into your ear to stay and lured you right into their charming trap. They were the kind of beautiful that screamed danger and trouble, but also shined with mystery and beauty.

His hair had been darkened until it was jet black, with no trace of the pure color it had once been before. The raven strands blended in with the shadows that constantly surrounded him, aiding him, hiding him. His hair was still as messy as before, but now possessed a strange inkling of wildness and... power.

Yes, he still had those amazing powers over ice and snow and winter itself. He was still the winter spirit the world had once known before, but he had swerved onto a darker, more sinister path. A path that led straight into evil and fear, one that only the desperate would take. Beings that were so desperate, so alone that they would take such a risk just for something they had always wanted.

Pitch had promised power. He had promised eternal power, and the thought of finally being able to conquer everything he thought he never could made Jack fall right into the chasm of endless darkness. The immortal boy was so alone, so unseen and insignificant in the world that he became bitter and resentful. He became bitter towards the children because they didn't see him or even appreciate him for what he'd done for them. They would cheer whenever they received a snow day and run straight through their doors and jump right into the fluffy piles of snow he left for them. Sure, he was fine with it at first. But, as the years wore on, he grew spiteful because he never got any acknowledgment that he even existed. He was technically a teenage boy, after all, and had these sorts of emotional feelings. So he stopped being there for the children, stopped being the Guardian of Fun.

He became resentful towards the Guardians because they all had what he didn't but had always wanted. They were all believed in; they had children that could see them and hear them. Jack? He had no one. Absolutely no one. He hated the fact that he was the one that was always left out, always pushed away because he was "different." He hated the fact that he would never be fully accepted in the group that he had thought was so great at first. He hated the fact that he would never be one of them. So he left, and found someone who was like him. Pitch.

He wanted to show all those children and those four Guardians just what he was capable of. He wanted to show them what he could do and what kind of storms he could make. He wanted to show them what was really inside of that fun-loving boy.

He could control the darkness, now. He could cast out nightmares and bring the childrens' worst fears to life, and he loved seeing their cute little faces twist up in torment. He felt a strange spark of glee appear inside him whenever he saw the results of his work, and he was always proud of it. He always laughed when he saw the Guardians, gathered together at the North Pole, fretting over the steady disappearance of their believers. He had finally shown them what he could do.

Maybe he was insane. Maybe with all those bitter, bitter thoughts he had finally gone mad. Maybe after all those years of wandering around, alone, he had finally snapped. Maybe after joining Pitch, he had finally lost everything he once was.

When the nightmare king had fallen once more, defeated by the Guardians, Jack was left fending for himself yet again. He wandered about, miserable and alone in the huge, empty world. Without his companion, he had never felt more solitary.

But still, he never faltered in his reign of terror over the children. He continued spreading nightmares and fear throughout the world, trying to retain some of himself that he had already lost. He tried his best to keep himself under control, lest he go completely mad. But he wasn't sure just how long he could hold himself together before all the strings snapped.

He was about to give up on himself and everything he had believed in when he found her. A normal girl, walking down the street, nothing that outstanding about her. But, right when he caught sight of her, he knew he had found it. He didn't have a single clue as to what this feeling was, but whatever it was, he found it. This is it, he told himself excitedly when he saw her. This is it.

So he started following her everywhere. He began examining her and everything related to her. He was enamored with her and he wouldn't stop until he made her his.

Only a couple of weeks later did he begin giving her nightmares. He wanted to see her frightened reactions, because it made him excited in an unnerving way and sent sparks dancing up his body. He always felt his mouth curl up into a grin whenever she whimpered quietly or flinched from an illusory touch.

He had never felt this way for any human or spirit. He had never felt so devoted, so entranced and enticed by just a mere teenage girl.

And, now, he stood just outside her window, watching as she flopped down onto her bed and groaned. He enjoyed her frustration and fear; he was proud to see what his precious nightmares could do to her, make her so fed up and flustered, not to mention afraid. He felt his lips turn up in another amused smile, one that was half sneer, half grimace.

The boy was in pain. Deep, deep pain. He had regretted his choice to join Pitch right when his appearance and entire being changed into something he was not, but he believed that it was much too late to go back on his decision. He believed that the Guardian of Fun really had disappeared from him completely, but little did he know, that white-haired spirit was still there. Contained, yes. Hidden, yes. But still there.

Truly, deep in his heart, Jack never enjoyed watching the children suffer or his old Guardian friends in such distress. His inner self, the real Jack Frost, always shrieked for him to stop and come to his senses. But, that shriek, that warning was so quiet Jack had always pushed it away. He persisted in doing something his true self hated, carried on with giving the children nightmares and watching them twist and turn in their beds.

He lived in sorrow and pain for years, and he himself didn't even realize it. He never realized how much he was hurting the Guardians, the children he had sworn to protect, and himself. He had failed them all.

He was looking for love. That feeling that had erupted inside him when he saw her was love. Sure, she might not know him at all, but he definitely knew her. He didn't know why he was doing what he was doing, but he knew he had to do it. There was a strange urge, a strange desire to claim her as his own. It was an odd feeling, one that made his nerves go crazy and his nonexistent heartbeat quicken. He was in love with her, but in a much darker way.

He had been through so much, so much loneliness and being so utterly afraid. Afraid of what he was going to do in his immortal life, what he would become and what he was to be. He was the only being that ever existed to know what it truly meant to be alone and scared, the only being who hadn't been able to be loved. And the Guardian of Fun, without love to nurture him, could transform into something very, very deadly.

That was what he was so desperately looking for. Love, the one thing that would fix him, but he wasn't sure if he'd find it. No, he was sure he wouldn't be able to find it, but he was desperate for it. He was desperate for love and he was desperate to feel someone kiss him and hold him in their arms. He was desperate for someone to be there for him, a shoulder to cry on and a soul to trust. After being alone for three entire centuries, he was tired of wandering around and wondering what he was going to do next. He wanted something to happen right away, and that something would be love. That something would fix him and bring him back from the dark, the shadows, the terrible fear and loneliness. That something would make him Jack Frost again, the Guardian of Fun. Just the thought of it made him restless and fidgety; he wanted to get his old life back as soon as possible, the life where he was happy. But the only way that could happen was if he had love, and he knew that would be difficult. He was much too dark, much too frightening and perplexing for any female to be able to pin him down. No one would want him, this peculiar and dangerous immortal boy. At least, that's what he thought...

His dark hair fell into his eyes as he lifted a pale hand and pushed the window open. The shadows swarming over him slunk into the room, first tentatively, then quickly and eagerly. Sometimes, he wondered if they had a mind of their own. The dark tendrils slid along the walls of the girl's room, but her eyes were shut and she was deep in thought. She didn't realize she was in danger until it was too late.

Her eyes flew open right when the winter spirit stepped inside, shielded from the harsh winter storm he himself had created. She noticed the shadows around her, the menacing feeling of jeopardy surrounding her. She bolted up, the sheets becoming messy under her, and her fear-filled eyes locked on the dark boy standing at her window.

It's him, she thought with a shock. He's the cause of my nightmares. She didn't know how she knew. Maybe it was the fact that she felt as if she was living in a nightmare right that moment. It all felt like a bad dream; the eerie shadows and the unusual boy inside her room, they were all something completely out of the ordinary. But she knew for sure that she was living in reality, and she knew she was really sitting here, on her bed, waiting for whatever ordeal was to come next. All her muscles were tense as she stared at the boy, his hood casting dark shadows across his face, preventing her from seeing his facial features. He stood still, his posture languid and relaxed, his unoccupied hand tucked into his pocket. His occupied hand, she realized, was clutching a wooden staff. She didn't want to know what he used it for.

Her entire room had been darkened. Her walls were a gloomy shade of gray, the thin, vine-like shadows criss-crossing the plaster. Her door was concealed by the overwhelming amount of black fog, or was it... sand? Maybe frost? She had no idea. Whatever it was, it was trapping her and didn't plan to let her go soon.

Her breath caught in her throat and she found it harder and harder to breathe. She was hyperventilating in fear, her heart threatening to beat its way out of her chest. What made the situation even more frightening was the fact that he wasn't moving. He stood absolutely still, as if he were frozen, and even though she couldn't see his face, she knew he was watching her. He was inspecting her, pondering on just what he should do next. Each second was torture to her.

"Wh-who are y-you?" she finally stuttered, shocked to find that her voice had been raised an octave and her words shook so violently that she was sure the boy hadn't even understood her. She sounded so weak, so afraid and vulnerable.

Get it together, she told herself firmly, though it didn't help at all. Her body still trembled and she still felt faint in the head. The thought that this person – spirit, whatever he was – could have that sort of effect on her was amazing and frightening at the same time

After an agonizingly long moment, she saw him tilt his head the slightest bit. She shrank back.

"Me?" She swallowed, hard. His voice was soft, but not a kind of soft that soothed her. It was a soft that suggested a danger beyond anything she could imagine, a kind of supernatural power that she could never defend herself against.

It wasn't just soft, either. She could hear the snarl hidden under it, the malice and lunacy that made her skin crawl. This boy radiated fear and chaos, but also something else she couldn't comprehend. She wanted to get out of that room and run for safety as fast as she could, but at the same time, she wanted to stay and see just who or what this boy really was.

He fascinated her. He really did. She knew there was something about him, something intriguing and... alluring. Sure, she was scared of him, but she wouldn't run away. She felt almost drawn to him, like a sailor would to a siren. The longer he stood there, the greater her interest in him became.

"I'm Jack. Jack Frost." And with a flick of his hand, his hood was off.

She gasped. He was beautiful. His lips were pressed in a thin line and he wore a grim expression, but she couldn't help but notice how beautiful he was. His pale, pale skin stood out against the darkness of the shadows around him, highlighting his beauty and flawless skin. He had no blemish, no acne, nothing. His hair was in disarray, but every single strand seemed to have a specific place that made the mess look... well, not a mess. Even as intimidating as he was, she couldn't deny how attractive he was.

His eyes mesmerized her the most. It wasn't just the abnormal color; it was what she saw inside of those golden orbs. She saw the regret and the despair hidden deep inside his being, saw the drastic loneliness he had experienced and all the desperation he was feeling. It struck her so hard she lost her breath again, but this time, it wasn't because of fear.

"I'm the spirit of winter and everything cold. I could freeze you to death, right here, right now if I wanted to." His voice was still soft, but now held a threatening ring. He anticipated to see a flash of fear appear in her eyes, maybe a shout of objection. But, to his surprise, he saw something else that he had never seen before. Something he couldn't interpret. What could it be?

She should've been scared. She should've started yelling for help. She should've tried protesting. She should've tried to make a run for it. But she didn't.

She stood on shaky legs, and though her body was attempting to guide her to the door and make an escape, she walked right over to the immortal boy, as if she was in a trance.

She couldn't even control herself anymore. All the fear and panic that had filled her before had vanished, replaced by wonder and awe. She wanted so badly to know why this boy was feeling the way he was, and she wanted so badly to help him. Based on the mixed emotions she had seen in his eyes, she knew he needed someone to care for him. She knew he needed love.

Before she knew it, she was standing right in front of him. He made no move to back away, his intense gaze locking with hers. She felt herself drown in those golden pools of sadness and loneliness. He might act big and powerful on the outside, but on the inside, he was a completely different boy, almost the opposite. One that was scared and afraid of himself.

Without fully registering just what she was doing, she lifted her hand and brushed it against his cheek.

He tensed. He hadn't been expecting her to react this way; he expected her to start screaming or protesting or at least do something other than this. Even as surprised as he was, he felt something strange flare up inside him. Instead of pulling back from her touch, he leaned against it.

His skin was so cold. She felt like her hand was pressed against an ice cube, but it wasn't quite like that, either. He wasn't only physically cold, he was emotionally cold, too. Just by touching him, she could feel the years – no, centuries – of pain he had been feeling. All the anguish and grief, all the remorse and struggle he had put up with. All of his hidden, melancholy emotions rushed over her, and she felt herself falling. Down, down, down, until she couldn't bear the flood of feelings any longer. If this was only a fraction of what he had lived through, she couldn't imagine what he himself was feeling.

What was happening to him? All these emotions that were swarming over him, all of them ones that he had never experienced before. He didn't understand what was going on, and why he was feeling this way.

Can it be love? he thought uncertainty. All along, he believed he could never find someone who could love him, but here he was. All the answers, all the solutions could lie within this human girl.

Suddenly, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her close to himself, he kissed her.

Not once did she think of pulling away or struggling against him. She kissed him back with a burning passion, and he froze. He didn't expect her to return the gesture; he expected her to push him away and yell at him or something. Maybe it really was love and he wasn't assuming wild things.

Her fingers slid into his dark hair and weaved through the strands. She allowed her nails to lightly scrape against his scalp, earning a low growl as he pressed his body tighter into hers. He removed his lips from hers to place butterfly kisses down her neck, occasionally nipping at her delicate skin. She bit her lip as he murmured her name, but she gave no thought as to exactly how he came to know it.

She tugged lightly at his hair, pulling him back to her lips. She loved the feeling of his mouth moving against hers, and even though they had just met face-to-face, everything about the event was so, so right.

He pulled back abruptly to look at the girl he was kissing. She whined a bit from the loss of his lips, but opened her eyes to glance at him, too. They stared at each other for a long moment, trying to read each other.

Then he turned, facing the window again, and slid it open. She noticed that the shadows covering the floor and walls were a bit faded now, and she could actually see a hint of color here and there.

"W-will you be back?" Her voice was still quiet, but she sounded more shy than afraid. The dark boy no longer frightened her; her racing heartbeat wasn't because she was scared.

She wanted to see him again. She wanted to know just what this boy was about and what made him like this. She wanted to know his story.

He stiffened. He wasn't used to this feeling of love, this form of communication. He wasn't used to the love and worry he heard in her voice, the warmth and sincerity. He was starting to like it, though, and wanted to come back later to see what else he could do with her. Already he was feeling lighter, more like himself.

Maybe she was the missing piece to his puzzle. Maybe she loved him and maybe they could start a relationship. Maybe he wouldn't be losing to himself, after all. Maybe he could start over with her, maybe end this loneliness forever. Maybe she could make him Jack Frost again.

"Yes."

And with that, he disappeared through the window.

* * *

><p><strong>I've decided to start a Dark! Jack Frost x Reader one-shot set because I've been reading a few of them and got a few ideas. I'm still getting the hang of it, so sorry if I didn't do a good job but I think this one is pretty good. I won't update on a weekly basis, but maybe once in a while I'll update something. I'll be focusing more on Frostbitten. Thanks for reading!<strong>


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